Thursday, 25 June 2009

Malaysia Still Waiting For Technical Documents From LAOSOC

KUALA LUMPUR, June 25 (Bernama) -- The Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) have yet to receive technical documents related to the Laos SEA Games from the Laos Organising Committee (Laosoc).

OCM Honorary secretary Datuk Sieh Kok Chi said though Laosoc had claimed yesterday that the documents had been distributed, OCM have yet to receive the documents.

Kok Chi said as per the SEA Games Federation's (SGF) requirement, documents related to entry by numbers should have been sent nine months before the Games while entry by names should be submitted two months before the Games.

Other documents include the size of the delegation, so as to ease the host country's process of arranging accommodation at the Games Village, he said.

"However, with les than six months before the Games, Loasoc are still preparing to send documents to finalise entry by numbers. May be they lack officials who are aware of SGF's regulations," he told Bernama when contacted here Thursday.

Laos, hosting the Games for the first time, have scheduled the Games from Dec 9-18, in Vientiane, and would comprise of 25 sports, well below the 43 sports hosted by Thailand in 2007.

He added that the selection of athletes for the SEA Games would be conducted by the Selection Committee for the SEA Games, represented by OCM, National Sports Council and National Sports Associations (NSAs).

The committee meets on July 25, to discuss the selection process and criteria set for the Laos Games while OCM are also concerned that NSAs have yet to submit names of team managers, he said.

"We hope that matter can be resolved at the meeting," he said.

Meanwhile, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) would meet in Singapore on July 1, to discuss the calendar for the region, especially with the inclusion of a number of new events and the actions taken against the influenza A(H1N1) outbreak, he said.